Three days have passed since then. Media outlets throughout Japan and the world itself picked up the story of a mass murder taking place in an isolated village that was supposed to be a hidden resort like a wild animal to fresh meat.
The murders were all that anyone would talk about, of the police and the possibility that a significant number of those who disappeared in Japan might have been at the mansion—expanding to include other country's resources and their people when it was discovered that some of the bodies were not of Asian descent. For those who had lost someone where a friend or family member disappeared under a specific timeline to contact a hotline made specifically to gather clues of who these people might have been with the police and forensics hoping to obtain DNA from the remains in the hopes of giving names and faces to the countless victims.
As of yet, it is undetermined just how many bodies were buried within the mansion’s gardens, marked by flowers that were the colour of blood. It was uncertain if there were any other places where more bodies might be discovered.
For the village itself, when it came to questioning the villagers about what had taken place. It seemed that they were left in the dark of such gruesome events. Or if some did, they kept it to themselves.
And when asked why no one knew that this was happening, it was revealed that a police officer from the Tokyo Police Department was a part of this scheme. The officer in question was found dead. He killed himself by using his tie as a noose.
Currently, no other suspects have been found.
“…this is the official report that’s been given to the public,” Daichi said after giving the details to the three girls in a private hospital room. Both Stephanie and Rachael sat in chairs while Taryn remained sitting upright in a hospital bed. Unable to be discharged for the slight fracture in her leg and injury to her throat.
Daichi, on the other hand, was dressed in a suit as his injuries had been treated, and though he was told to rest, he wished to give this information to the young women in person.
“And unofficially?” Stephanie asked in Japanese.
“Unofficially, all of what you told us will never be revealed to the public. People will find it easier to believe, and come to terms, that several people were behind these killings rather than trying to turn them into living dolls.”
“What about the tunnels?” Rachael asked. “Surely the police must have found those and gone looking, right?”
Daichi readjusted his glasses. “About that, from what my superiors told me, they could not find any. There was nothing that would lead to suggest that there were ways to get into the underground from the mansion.”
“What?” Stephanie snapped in a mix of confusion and shock. “You’re joking, several doors and stairs are leading to these places underground! There is no way in hell that these passageways just up and disappeared.”
Stephanie glanced at Taryn, who, throughout all of this, remained looking out the window to the vastness of Tokyo. She had been like that since coming out of the underground. And besides giving her statement about fighting Toya, she didn’t even speak about what had happened when going back to face Toya alone.
She did ask about a fire but then fell silent when Daichi told her that there was no fire, which made the others wonder what that was about, but at that point didn’t ask for how mentally exhausted Taryn had become.
“But it’s possible, isn’t it?” she asked, drawing Rachael’s attention. “Everyone else who was a part of the mansion hasn’t been found, right? The staff are still missing?”
Daichi gave her a firm nod. “They are, none of them has been accounted for as of yet.”
“Then hear me out on this one, okay?” Stephanie chimed in. “So, look. I’m all up for finding this whole thing to be really hard to believe, but given what you both saw down there, making a door or stairs disappear seems not that impossible.”
Rachael’s shoulders sagged before another thought came into her head. “Then what about the Shrines? The one at the top of the village, and the one on the mansion’s grounds? Have they tried looking there yet? There’s a tunnel that both connects to the underground.”
“Now those they did find, however, will take some time in going through. From what you and Lowell-san have described, the underground itself seems to be very large and rather complex. The last thing that anyone wants is for someone else to go missing.”
Makes sense. Rachael thought before looking to Taryn, who again, had not said a single word through this.
Daichi glanced at Taryn before directly speaking to her. “There is something else that I had yet to tell all of you. It’s regarding the hairs that were found on Grayson-san’s body. The tests have come back, and what was given many of us find rather… odd.”
Taryn looked at him but remained silent.
“Odd in what way?” Rachael asked with a faint tilt of her head.
Daichi continued to look at Taryn whose eyes remained focused on him. She knew exactly what he was going to say before her gaze fell on the file that was hidden discreetly with his other paperwork. He wasn’t surprised by that in the least. “This is a copy of the findings when the test was first completed. The forensics team was not certain that this was a part of the case, so they tested it again, just to be sure it wasn’t something that didn’t belong to some archeological find.” He then walked the short distance to Taryn and handed it to her. “Out of everyone, I thought you should see it first.”
“You’re making this sound unnecessarily complicated, my dude,” Stephanie said flatly as Taryn looked over the file. “Could you not give us the runaround? I think all of us would like these answers to be concise and to the point thanks.”
Daichi smiled faintly. “You’re not the only one. It took me a while to even try to wrap my head around this when I read it.”
“Did each test come back the same as the first?” Taryn asked suddenly in Japanese, her eyes not leaving the file as she carefully read over the documentation. “There weren’t any discrepancies with it?”
“None that I’m aware of.” Then, Daichi and the others all frowned, for Taryn did something none of them expected.
She began to laugh.
It was a subtle laugh, almost a chuckle, nothing over the top as it slowly came to a halt as she leaned back in her bed, looking at the file with an almost bemused smirk that lasted only a second before it vanished. “Toya did tell me before that he would no longer lie. This just confirms it.”
The other two girls looked at the file then, leaning over to read it from their chairs before looking back to the Detective with matching confused frowns.
“Detective, what the hell is this?” Stephanie spoke up first. “Do you know what she’s even talking about?”
Daichi readjusted his glasses before answering. “It’s just as it’s written in the file. Those hairs that had been recovered predate even the turn of the twentieth century. Given that, Lowell-san was either dealing with a person who is practically immortal. Or this is someone who’s playing with us, and there’s a missing two-hundred-old corpse that we need to locate.”
All eyes fell on Taryn. Hoping for an answer.
She let out a breath. “Toya told me he wouldn’t lie. He admitted to me his age as I was at his mercy. He’s been around for a very long time.”
“Do you think others might have been involved?” Stephanie asked. “I’m just wondering, since a police officer was, given how long this had been going on for, it’s more than likely that there were others, isn’t there?”
The Detective’s gaze turned to disappointment. “Even if that were the case, the only one who would know that is now dead. And there is no documentation that we can find that would say otherwise.”
“Fuck all kinds of duck…” Stephanie muttered in English before switching back to Japanese. “So, where does that lead us then? It’s not like we can just give up and go home after everything.”
“It’d be easier if we did,” Taryn admitted. “We’re not going to get all the answers, and really, would you even want it given all that’s happened?”
The room fell silent at her words. She was right in many ways, as much as they wanted to know more, it wasn’t worth the risks. Since then, the one who was the driving cause was dead at her hands.
Taryn then glanced towards the room's door when she heard the sound of voices, ones that she knew.
“Here, her room is here!” the door opened and in stepped a blonde man with dark green eyes. His worried expression turned to relief when he saw her.
“Isaac…?” Her voice trembled as tears formed in her eyes. “Isaac, is that you?” it was a stupid question. But after all that had happened when fighting Toya, she wasn’t sure if she would see anyone she cared about ever again. It was a ridiculous thing to fear, but one that clung to her nonetheless.
Without saying anything, Isaac closed the distance with fast strides, gently holding her in an embrace, one arm wrapped around her back, while the other had grasped the hand that was outstretched and refused to let go.
“Of course, it’s me.” He says softly, his voice filled with relief. After a moment he moved away to look at her, his hand now cupping her face as he lowered himself to her eye level.
She smiled, grasping his hand with both of hers while fighting back the urge to cry. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“Same,” he said softly, as his forehead rested against Taryn’s, they remained like that for another silent moment.
“Taryn!” her mother’s frantic voice soon followed as her mother and father entered the room next, Isaac moved out of the way as her parents ran the short distance to reach their child. They both hugged her tight the moment they reached her. “Oh sweetie… thank god…” her mother said as she and her husband refused to let go as they both kissed her.
“When we heard what happened, your mother and I feared the worst.” Her father said.
Taryn, unable to say anything back, merely began to cry. “Mom… Dad…” as she clung to both of them, not wanting to let go of them either.
“I’ll leave you be; we can talk more about this later,” Daichi said in Japanese to Stephanie and Rachael, before casting one last look at Taryn and leaving the room.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Stephanie looked at such a scene with envy tugging at her heart. Taryn’s parents were so caring and loving. Dropping everything to get here as quickly as they could.
“I’m uh… I’m going to get something to drink.”
“I’ll come with,” Rachael said as she went to follow Stephanie, only to briefly pause to look at her friend before leaving the room as Isaac shut the door for privacy.
The three of them remained like that for the longest time, with the parents keeping their daughter close to them, with soft, soothing tones and tight embraces. While Isaac stood off to the side, glancing every so often at the door as two people stood out in the hall guarding the door. A man of dark skin and tight black curled hair cut short, and a tall woman with black hair pulled back into a low bun with lavender eyes. Both were wearing black suits and ties as they stood watching those who walked by wondering what was going on.
“I’m sorry, Mom, Dad,” Taryn said finally when they finally let go of her. “I promised I was going to stay as safe as I could, but I…”
“But you did,” Olivia interjected as she cupped her daughter’s face. “You’re alive, you’re breathing. You kept your word.”
It didn’t feel like it to her.
Her mother hugged her again when Taryn began to cry again. Her mother cried as her father did as well.
“We’re just so glad you’re safe.” Her father said next, keeping the two people he held dear close as Taryn remained sandwiched between them. But she didn’t care. She was just glad to have them with her.
After some time passed between them and their tears dried, her parents eyed each other before Olivia was the first to partly break away, not entirely as of yet, but to speak to her daughter face to face. “I’m going to go and see if I can find a doctor who can tell us if you’re able to go home. Or at least, out of this hospital.”
“They might not speak English,” Johnathan reaffirmed.
“True, but Isabella and Bob know Japanese,” she looked at her daughter and smiled. “Partly in thanks to a certain someone.”
“I’m pretty certain that someone is Uncle Gerald and not me.”
Her mother shrugged but still held that smile. “Perhaps. But I still like to think that you played a part in it because of all that anime you watched while learning the language, and that was long before he went to Japan.” She then kissed her daughter’s cheek again before looking at her husband as he grasped her hand briefly. “I’ll be right back.”
And as her mother broke away and headed to the door, Olivia hesitated, glancing back before taking a breath and leaving the room.
Then Taryn looked to Isaac, who had been watching from afar, taking the silent hint, Isaac came over and placed a hand on Taryn’s shoulder, in which he asked. “Are you thirsty? I can get you something?”
“No, but, if you can check on my friends, that’d be good.”
“Okay,” he then left the room, now leaving the two in abject silence for a brief moment.
“I need to tell you something,” she said.
“I figured,” he then sat on the edge of the bed.
“How much do you know?”
“About as much as the police have told us.” Her father gave her a knowing look as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, gently pulling her into his side. “What really happened?”
“A lot of people died, Dad. A lot of people that we’ll never know what they looked like. People that have been long since died. I…” She let out a shaken breath. “I stabbed someone. There could have been other ways for me to do something, but all I could think about was what he had done and what he allowed to happen. He boasted to Rachael while she was locked up. And I was angry, yet I felt calm. I think that’s what you all told me about. How I acted when Roy died? I think that’s what it was.”
“Is this person dead?”
She was quiet for a moment. “I have no clue, all I thought was getting my friend out of there. Because I didn’t want what happened to Robert to happen to her.” her father frowned, but remained silent, waiting for her to continue. “We should have left before, or at least tried to, then, maybe; Robert wouldn’t…” Her father kept silent as she rested her head along his chest. “I just… I don’t know what to think, Dad.”
His hold tightened slightly. “Is there anything else that you want to talk about?”
Yes, so much. “No,” Taryn lied. “Nothing else.” She wouldn’t tell him, not here, not now. She honestly didn’t think she’d ever be able to tell him the truth of what happened in the depth of the mansion, of those who didn’t die, and what they became, and of Toya. “But there is something I need to do before going back home. There’s a family I need to meet. If it weren’t for their daughter and what she showed me, we would have ended up so much worse. I need to do this, Dad.”
“And we will, when your mother returns, and if you can be released, we can speak to that detective that was with you before we arrived. We’ll find them, and thank them, if she were here, I’d thank her too.”
She closed her eyes as she continued to hug her father. “I know you would…”
* * *
“Stephanie, wait,” Rachael called out as the blonde woman made her way quickly down the hall and towards a sitting area of the hospital. “Stephanie, please.”
She stopped and then sighed heavily. “I’m sorry,” she said when facing Rachael. “I just didn’t… I didn’t want to make it weird in there, you know?” she pressed her lips together in a thin line as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I mean… I just… I don’t want to bring anything that might be uncomfortable for them. Especially now that… that Robert’s gone. I don’t even know how to tell his Mom.” She swallowed hard. “H-how do I tell her this? That… that her son is dead? That she’s never going to see him again?”
“You wouldn’t be the first to deal with that.” Rachael turned to see Isaac approaching them. “It’s a lot like when someone has lost their comrade in a war. The guilt you feel, and the fear of the other lashing out in anger. It’s understandable.”
Stephanie looked at him, seeing his face, his expression, his eyes. He wasn’t lying. “Who did you have to tell?”
“My best friend’s fiancée. Though I wasn’t alone. Taryn’s father was also there to give Shannon the news the day she returned from the States. But what surprised me was her strength. Roy was in the military and joined the police force after, she knew that his job had risks. She always had a strong will and personality, and she knew that there was a chance that he might die on the job, whether it was on the battlefield or in the streets of Toronto. It didn’t stop her from crying, but she gathered herself and began asking questions. The how, the why, the who and if anyone else was there when it happened. She wanted to understand. I’m not saying that Robert’s mother will act the same way, but it’s best to get those in order because she will want to know. Like any other who’s lost a child before their time.”
“You make it sound easy,” Stephanie couldn’t help but say, though she felt that it was further from the truth.
He shook his head. “It never is. But if you’d like, we can help you through it.”
“We?” she paused when the woman in the black suit approached them.
“Many of those in the Lowell family have often dealt with such crucial information.” The woman with lavender eyes spoke, her voice holding the lit of some European country, but it was so faint that it was hard to tell what accent it was. “We can help if you need it.” She then looked at Isaac. “I do apologize for the interruption, but some people came looking for the two young women. It’s their parents.”
“Our parents are here?” Rachael asked rather surprised.
Before the other woman could respond with an answer, another person called out. “Stephanie!” as a man in his late fifties came over in quick determined strides. He was of average height with a lean build, dark blond hair combed back, cleanly shaven and dressed in a high-end dark blue suit and purple tie as his brown eyes were filled with worry.
“Dad,” Stephanie hesitated to make a move as her father rushed forwards, and before she had the chance to say anything else, the man embraced his daughter in a tight, almost bone-crushing hug.
“Thank God you’re okay.” He said before pulling away. “When I heard what happened to you, that you had been shot, I feared the worst.” He looked at her, trying to see where she had been hit before his gaze landed on the bandage that just peaked out from underneath her tank top and looked at her somewhat confused before she showed him the broach.
“I was wearing this when it happened, a man at a jewelry store gave it to me, saying that it would protect me. He gave something similar to the others that were with us.” She looked at Rachael, the ring still on her index finger. Not once had she removed it. “And I’d like to think the same applied to her as well.” She looked back at her father. “I want to go back there. I told his daughter I would.”
“Then we damn well better, I want to meet the man who helped keep you safe.” His gaze then fell on Rachael. “Is this the girl?”
“Oh, no, that’s her friend.” She stepped to the side and placed her hands on Rachael’s shoulders. “This is Rachael Blake, but she’s also one of my friends now.”
Rachael could only nod. “Hello, Sir,”
“I wish our meeting was in better circumstances.” He said to her. “And that this had never happened.”
“I think all of us feel the same.” She said in response. “But if you’re wondering about my friend, she’s in a private room, being visited by her parents. She’s more banged up than the two of us combined.”
Concern furrowed his brow. “Was she also shot?”
“If she were the one who had done it would be dead,” Isabella chimed in with a somewhat bitter tone. “Or at least should be, though her parents would do far worse.”
The man frowned, looking at both Isabella and Isaac, clearly feeling as though he had seen them somewhere before. The realization came to him when Olivia joined with another set of parents, a small round petite woman with red greying hair and her husband who has a stout stocky build with brown hair and glasses.
“They said they were lost, couldn’t locate Taryn’s room,” Olivia said as the two rushed over to Rachael.
And as Rachael’s parents gave the same treatment as Taryn’s and even Stephanie’s father, did the man finally speak.
“You’re the Iron Law,” he stated, before looking to his daughter. “You never told me that you were friends with Taryn Lowell.”
Stephanie shrugged. “You never asked.”
“My mistake in doing so.”
Olivia smiled at the man and held out her hand. “I’ve heard of you, Mr. Stratford. It’s good to meet you face to face finally.”
“And not in a courtroom thankfully.” He says as he takes her hand before overhearing what Rachael’s parents were saying.
“…we would have found you a lot sooner if that man there in the suite didn’t run like a bat out of hell to get here.” Rachael’s mother said, while her father added.
“You looked like you were about to kill someone the way you ran.”
He cleared his throat as he readjusted his tie, clearly embarrassed someone commented on it. “You would as well if someone shot your child.”
“Yes, indeed,” Olivia added rather coolly. “But now I think we’re causing a bit of a commotion, why not return to my daughter’s room? We were given the go-ahead for her to leave the hospital, though she won’t be able to head back to Toronto for at least another week from what Bob could translate for me.” She looked to the two girls in question. “But you both can head back home now if you want.”
“No!” Rachael snapped.
“Hell, no!” Stephanie snapped. “We’re not leaving without her!”
Stunning all in an ear’s breath of the two’s declaration.
“We’re not going anywhere without her,” Rachael said.
Taryn’s mother didn’t seem to be the least bit surprised. “If you’re certain, then let’s head back. However, she did mention that she had some unfinished business to do before going home. So, if you wish to leave sooner…”
“We’ll stay,” Stephanie said again. “I made a promise. I’m not going to leave anyone behind. Not again.”
“Same,” Rachael added. “I’ve been through a lot, but I will not abandon her. Being in another hospital be damned.”
Both Stephanie and her father not knowing the meaning of her words, but the other three did as Isabella gave a very faint smile as they went back to the room.
* * *
Shortly after when Taryn was released from the hospital and with the help of Daichi Sakamoto, Taryn Lowell was able to track down the Suchiko family and return what once belonged to their daughter. The journal and photo, in particular, for the rest had to remain in police custody.
For this meeting, Taryn chose to wear a long black skirt with red and pink flowers, a simple white T-shirt and her black sandals as her hair remained down. She did this so it would be easier to move around.
In comparison, Daichi was dressed in a light blue dress shirt and jeans since he wasn't on the clock and knew the family well from the bits and pieces that Taryn was gland from him on the way. Upon meeting with the Suchiko family, Taryn could only offer them her thanks.
“If it weren’t for your daughter, my friends and I would have never come out alive.” She said in Japanese.
“Did you meet her?” June’s mother asked. “Did you talk with her?”
Taryn paused before shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but… she was already gone. The notes I found, and the photo, are all that’s left of her.”
“Not even her bones?”
Her heart grew tight as she shook her head, for there was nothing left of June now, at least, in the physical sense. “I’m sorry.”
June’s mother cried; her father silently wept as did June’s younger brother. There was nothing else that she could say except for one thing.
“Your daughter was brave.”
When June’s mother regained her composure, she asked. “You said your name was Taryn Lowell,” she then looked to Daichi. “Is she related to him?” when he nodded, the mother said simply. “Then her debt’s been repaid.”
Hearing that confused her. Taryn knew that it had something to do with her uncle, which was never spoken aloud, not even Daichi spoke of it.
“Is what my uncle did, really that much?” she asked him as they left the Suchiko household and headed back to where the car was waiting for them.
“More than you’ll ever know.” He tells her. “Both Suchiko-san and I, as well as a few others, hold a great debt for what your uncle was able to do for us. But it is something I can not go into, I’m sorry.”
Taryn gave a short laugh. “That doesn’t surprise me” She glanced at her compact, seeing nothing in the glass’s reflection as she discreetly placed it back into her bag. “I just hope that she’s finally at peace. That she and the others can all truly rest…”
She closed her eyes, the images of what she had done with Toya still played out as though it had happened moments ago.
Even now, as the faintest of signs of this event was finally disappearing from her body, she knew that it would never truly fade away, no matter how much time had passed.